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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26842921">Out Of The Woods</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/cheshirewritesagain2402/pseuds/cheshirewritesagain2402'>cheshirewritesagain2402</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Starry, Starry Night [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Hannibal (TV), Hannibal Lecter Series - All Media Types</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Blood and Gore, Cannibalism, Canon-Typical Violence, Child!Hannibal, Consensual Underage Sex, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, Falling In Love, Friendship, Graphic Description, Growing Up, Killing, M/M, Major Character Injury, Revenge</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 13:07:54</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Underage</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>4,394</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26842921</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/cheshirewritesagain2402/pseuds/cheshirewritesagain2402</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>It has been years since Will saw Hannibal the last time. When he is finally brave enough, he buys a plane ticket to Paris to look for his former adoptive son. Despite missing the boy so much, he is afraid of what he will find there.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Will Graham &amp; Hannibal Lecter, Will Graham/Hannibal Lecter</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Starry, Starry Night [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1731724</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>51</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Out Of The Woods</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Look who's back :D<br/>I update like a snail but there will be updates.<br/>Thanks for your patience in advance.<br/>This time we'll get down and dirty with Hannibal and Will.<br/>And I thought "Why not combine my two main pairings?" It will be mainly Will/Hannibal though. Victor/Sherlock will only be mentioned and might get one chapter to themselves.<br/>The first chapter is not overly long, but I'm too exited to share it with you guys.<br/>Also, there might be some spelling / thinking mistakes in there which I didn't find yet, so please ignore them, as always. They will be corrected eventually.<br/>Hope you guys enjoy :)<br/>x C.<br/>P.S. It might be easier to understand the context if you read the first part "Lost in the Woods".</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Will needed a break from England and his peaceful life. Cornwall was beautiful and the little village he lived in was great. Well, lived in was not quite accurate. Will lived quite a way outside the village, but it could be reached within a 30-minute walk. </p><p>He was grateful for the solitude, but everything that happened in his past made it sometimes unbearable. He still didn't long for human interactions and preferred to stay away from others, so his hand went to the bottle more often than not.</p><p>After months of living like this, Will found himself craving alcohol pretty much every day, all day long. He couldn't sleep if he hadn't had his two, three... five glasses of whisky beforehand. He couldn't concentrate. He neglected his work and felt his hands shaking more and more when he tried to piece small parts together. </p><p>Will had never had a very good sense of self-preservation and he was absolutely crappy of taking care of himself, which could be seen in his dietary habits, but he knew that something had to change. He knew that he couldn't stay this sorry piece of shit forever. Well, he could, but then he would end up dead sooner rather than later and his dogs would be all alone. Also, there was still this annoying, tiny voice in his head which kept telling him that Hannibal would miss him if he would die. (Not that the boy still knew anything about him, but the voice kept insisting.)</p><p>So Will saw that it was time for a change. He had to do something. He had to get out of this dreary routine. And he did. He did the only thing he could think of. He started to travel.</p><p>His traveling before he had met Hannibal had been the best experience in his life. He had kept away from people, been to places where he had only been a stranger, no one asking him questions, no one sparing him a second glance. A face amongst all others. Anonymous. There had been such freedom to it. And yet the traveling itself had changed something in Will back then. Seeing new places, trying new foods. It gave him something else to focus on; a chance to reinvent himself again.</p><p>And this was exactly what he had to do.</p><p>Will made a hard decision. He gave away all of his dogs apart from three (paying someone to look after more simply wasn't reasonable).</p><p>The three, Winston, Buster and Ruby (Hannibal's favourite), stayed with close neighbours when he was away in Romania, Ireland, Austria, Hungary, Iceland and the Czech Republic. </p><p>Will would travel mainly in the winter months, as the patrons, who let their boats get fixed by him would only be there in spring/summer. As Will finished for the day, he wiped his oily hands on an old rag. The season was for this year was finished. This was the last boat he had been working on for a long-term customer by now. He came every year to let Will do his start-up check, get the boat ready for the winter again and regular check-ups in between.</p><p>Tomorrow Will would set off to a new adventure. The word adventure because he would really go on an adventure this time.</p><p>After months of debating with himself, Will had booked a flight to Paris.</p><p>Chances were that he wasn't even there anymore. Chances were that he was back at school by now, wherever he went to school. Chances were that he didn't want to see him. Chances were...</p><p>But he wouldn't let himself think like this anymore. If he thought like this, he would back out and cancel his trip this very moment. And the annoying voice in the back of his head told him not to do that. So he listened to it, even if not too willingly.</p><p> </p><p>xxxxxxxx</p><p> </p><p>And now Will was in France.</p><p>He had been here for a few days already (definitely not looking for a certain boy, who would be so much taller by now, so much more beautiful, so much.... no, don't think about it).</p><p>So Will did a lot of sightseeing. He went to the most popular places, and to the lesser known ones. He stayed in a small guestroom with an old man, who was nothing but friendly (even for a French person) but spoke little English. Despite that, he had given Will a lot of recommendations for insider places that the locals would visit, and so Will had been eating pretty much all of his trip for now.</p><p>Still, it was sometimes difficult for Will to be in a big city. There were so many things he could see that triggered his brain in unwanted ways. He preferred to travel to more remote locations. But in this case, he had had no choice.</p><p>Right now, for example, with that many people around, he could not focus on something else apart from this young woman, who just broke up with her boyfriend and was crying into her friend's ear, who seemed to be totally annoyed by it but tried to show that she was a good friend. Or that the man over there was laughing with four of his peers but by doing so only tried to avoid being asked about his job, which he clearly had lost recently. Or the three boys around the age of 13, sitting on the steps beside them, who were laughing about something one of them had just said.</p><p>Will sighed. He should leave Paris. There was no use in being here. He was just torturing himself. </p><p>And then one of the boys turned towards the side to smile at his friend and Will stopped dead in his tracks.</p><p>It couldn’t be. No, it just wasn’t possible.</p><p>He was never ever that lucky.</p><p>Will’s thoughts came to a screeching halt. What... He didn’t know what to do. He had had no plan in place because something deep in himself had known that he would never see the boy again. But now. He was there. He was so close. Closer than he had been in more than four years. It had been forever. It had felt like forever.</p><p>Will's feet dragged him closer, although he didn’t know what to do or say. He would improvise. Probably. Or hyperventilate. Yes, that sounded like a viable option too. </p><p>“H...Hannibal?”</p><p>Will’s voice broke and he almost wasn’t able to get out the name of his former adoptive son.</p><p>The boy looked up at him and the smile vanished from his face. His expression turned cold, untouchable. Not like a boy's at all.</p><p>Will suddenly felt lightheaded. He turned and rushed off in a different direction, away just... he needed to breathe.</p><p>The coldness in Hannibal’s eyes was something he had never wanted to see. Not towards him. He had known the boy was capable of it, but not like this. Not... to him.</p><p>It had been a bad idea to even come to this city and an even worse one to try and talk to Hannibal.</p><p>The profiler fell to his knees; they wouldn’t support him anymore.</p><p>Will was having a panic attack and there was nothing he could do about it. He would pass out. He couldn’t breathe anymore...</p><p>Warm hands pressed to his cheeks.</p><p>A beautiful, accented voice ordered him to breathe. To focus.</p><p>And Will obeyed. He took slow, deep breaths, leaning into the touch.</p><p>He focused on the black dots swimming into focus, praying for them to vanish again. </p><p>As his breathing evened out, Will felt a bit more like himself again. His thoughts didn't try to swim together anymore, his vision came back.</p><p>And he looked up.</p><p>His... - no, not anymore he reminded himself - the beautiful boy kneeled in front of him, concern written all over his face.</p><p>“Will? Are you alright?”</p><p>“Hannibal.. you..”</p><p>Will’s voice broke once more as he fought with tears he wasn’t aware that were in his eyes.</p><p>Hannibal frowned and let go of him.</p><p>“I’m fine.”, Will managed to croak out, clearing his throat.</p><p>His hands shook as he extended one to touch the boy’s face.</p><p>Hannibal pulled back, fast, as if he was afraid.</p><p>A pain shot through Will’s chest as he stilled his arm, trembling between them, before he was able to drop it.</p><p>“Hannibal, can I... please let me explain.”</p><p>Hannibal sat like frozen.</p><p>“Please.”</p><p>The boy stood and Will’s heart sank.</p><p>He had known that the boy would probably not want to see him again After all, he had practically abandoned him. Hannibal had no reason to forgive him.</p><p>Suddenly Hannibal’s fingers curled around Will’s and the boy pulled him to his feet.</p><p>Will stared at him, now standing.</p><p>“There is a bench over there.”, Hannibal nodded to their right.</p><p>The two boys that had been with Hannibal earlier came slowly closer.</p><p>“Are you alright?”, said the one with curly, raven hair, his accent British.</p><p>Hannibal nodded.</p><p>“He... that’s Will.”</p><p>“Oh.”, came from both boys at once and they stared at Will as if Hannibal had told them that he were a movie star. </p><p>“Good to meet you, sir.”, said the second boy, slightly taller than the first, his hair just as dark. He sounded Irish.</p><p>“A pleasure.”, said curly-hair, but his gaze fixed on Will more suspicious than the other one's.</p><p>“I’d like to talk to him alone, please.”</p><p>Will just realised that Hannibal hadn’t let go of his hand yet.</p><p>“No worries, Hannibal.”, said the second one again.</p><p>Curly-hair didn't say anything but his gaze lingered on Will a little longer than strictly necessary.</p><p>“I will introduce you another time."</p><p>Will could see, somewhere through his clouded mind, that Hannibal cared about the boys and they cared about him. They must be his friends.</p><p>It relieved Will to find out that Hannibal had made friends in his time abroad and that he was doing well.</p><p>The two British boys looked him up and down once more before they turned and went away, immediately starting to whisper to each other.</p><p>Now all Will felt was guilt. The guilt he had tried to drown in whisky bubbled to the surface and he couldn’t push it down anymore. He needed a drink. Or ten. But no, he had to own up to his actions. He now had a chance to make Hannibal hate him less, and he had to take it.</p><p>Also, he didn’t want the boy to see him like this drunkard that he had become, although he had been much better in the recent year.</p><p>“Hannibal. I’m sorry. I’m so very sorry. I don’t...” Will took a deep breath. He couldn’t look into Hannibal’s fiery, glistening eyes.</p><p>Hannibal pulled Will to a bench and flopped himself down on it.</p><p>“You let me go without a fight.” There was so much hurt in his voice, that Will wanted to throw up.</p><p>He felt terrible. He had tried to push his guilt down by thinking that Hannibal’s life would be so much better with a rich uncle, who could fulfil all of his dreams and needs, but now he saw that maybe he should have fought harder for the boy to stay with him, even if he would have never had a chance to win against an influential, rich person.</p><p>Will slowly sat down beside the boy.</p><p>“I...”</p><p>There was no point in telling a lie about his reasons. Hannibal deserved to know why he had done what he had done.</p><p>“Your uncle can give you so much more than I did. I want the best for you. I want you to lead a life you’ll be happy with. Where you have everything you could wish for. The best education, the best chances.”</p><p>So you don’t end up like me. A broken man., he didn’t say.</p><p>Hannibal twisted his fingers in his lap.</p><p>“I had everything I needed when I was with you.”, he confessed quietly, the child in him showing. “I love you. You said you loved me too. You said you’d never send me away.”</p><p>Will’s heart broke a little more if that was possible at all.</p><p>“I still love you, Hannibal, but I see why you are disappointed, why you doubt me. I had not much choice and but I... I should have fought for you. I was a coward.”</p><p>Although Robertos hadn’t been unpleasantly pushy, he had been evident that he wished to raise his brother’s child, having no children of his own, and Will had decided it was easier to back off. For Hannibal’s good but also because he had been afraid of a confrontation. </p><p>“So you didn’t want to let me go? You would have kept me if you didn’t think that I would have a better life with my uncle?”</p><p>“Yes, mylimas, I would have done everything for you. I would have given you anything. If I would’ve read your uncle to be a bad person, I would have never let you go with him. I would have never endangered you. Never.”</p><p>Like I did before on the case., he didn’t say out loud. He still felt incredibily guilty about having brought Hannibal in such a situation after everything he had been through with his family.</p><p>Hannibal had tears in his eyes now, twisting his fingers together because he was unsure of what to do now. </p><p>Will saw that he pretended to be much more grown up than he actually was most of the time, but right here, right now, this was the little, frightened boy he had rescued in the woods of Lithuania.</p><p>Without thinking Will reached out and pulled the boy in his lap, hugging him tightly.</p><p>Hannibal clawed his fingers into Will’s shirt, sniffling against his chest.</p><p>“My darling boy. I missed you so much.”, Will whispered in his ear.</p><p>Hannibal shook apart in Will’s arms. </p><p>The former FBI agent stroked his back and held him gently. He should have seen how hard it would be on the boy to leave him. He should have at least visited him instead of cutting all ties. They lived in the 21st century, they could have texted via internet. Anything that the boy would have known that he was still here. He had been selfish, hadn’t wanted to be reminded of the pain that the boy was not with him anymore and had therefore ignored the boy’s needs. </p><p>It took Hannibal a long time to compose himself once more but the former profiler didn’t mind. He held him for as long as he needed it, stroking his hair and whispering sweet nothings into his ear.</p><p>Eventually Hannibal sat back up, wiping his eyes. Will procured a tissue from his pocket and handed it over.</p><p>“Why are you here?”, he asked, voice still hoarse from crying.</p><p>“I left the FBI for good, shortly after your uncle took you. I moved to England. I live by the sea now, in a small town, repairing boat motors. It’s quiet and peaceful.”</p><p>“I’d like to see that.”, Hannibal smiled.</p><p>Will couldn’t help but reciprocate.</p><p>“It’s beautiful. I’d love to take you.”</p><p>Hannibal wiped his eyes again.</p><p>“Can I come live with you now?”</p><p>Will froze.</p><p>“But you’ve got friends here. You go to school.”</p><p>“But there are school’s in England. And James and William live in England. They are only here during the summer months with their parents. They are the only friends I made so far. All the other children are so different from me.”</p><p>Will couldn’t deny it. There was nothing he’d want more than have Hannibal live with him. He wanted the boy back with him, wanted him to be there when he came home from work, wanted someone to spend his spare time with.</p><p>“Your uncle...”</p><p>“My uncle doesn’t care. He’s sick, since months already. His wife is nice enough but she misses home. She’s from Japan. I learned a lot from her but I don’t want to go with her should my uncle die.“</p><p>“I... Hannibal.” </p><p>The boy’s eyes turned big and Will swallowed.</p><p>“I could try talking to your uncle but...”</p><p>Hannibal hugged Will. The man couldn’t help himself, he had to smile at his boy’s enthusiasm.</p><p>“But I can’t promise anything.”</p><p>Will couldn’t imagine why Hannibal would be so eager to get back to him. He had hurt the boy, had left him with people he hadn’t known before although he had promised him to take care of him, but now he seemed to have all but forgotten about it. Or no, maybe not forgotten, but he had forgiven him. And that was the most important thing to him right now.</p><p> </p><p>xxxxxxxxxx</p><p> </p><p>Will accompanied Hannibal to a posh looking house in one of the best parts of Paris, it seemed. His uncle really was wealthy.</p><p>“I’m sure uncle would like to see you.”, the boy stated quietly as they ascended the few steps leading up to the front door. Hannibal unlocked it and they went into a grand entrance hall. It was quite beautiful, even for Will, who didn’t particularly care for architecture and art.</p><p>Hannibal lead them into a room on the far end of the hall. It looked like a posh version of a living room.</p><p>“I’ll call my aunt and uncle. Please take a seat, I’ll be back.”</p><p>Will sat as Hannibal vanished from the room. He let his gaze wander. It was nice, but it felt very impersonal. There were no family pictures, no personal touches in the room, just state of the art decorations, which Will knew had been just purchased to enhance the look of the room.</p><p>Shortly after the boy had left, an elderly woman appeared in the doorway, a tray in her hands.</p><p>She smiled at him as she put a tea service on the table in front of the sofa.</p><p>“Good afternoon, Mr Graham. Tea?”</p><p>Will nodded.</p><p>“Yes please.”</p><p>She poured some tea into a cup and put three more cups and saucers out for Hannibal and his aunt and uncle. She offered him some biscuits, but Will declined politely.</p><p>The woman went again, and Will looked after her. As she hadn’t introduced herself, she must be a servant.</p><p>Before he had time to contemplate the fact that Hannibal had lived the last few years with servants in the house, said boy entered the room, followed by his aunt who was supporting a very weak looking Robertos Lecter.</p><p>They both smiled at him.</p><p>“Mr Graham. So good to see you.”</p><p>Will got to his feet, shaking both their hands.</p><p>“Mr and Mrs Lecter. Nice to see you too.”</p><p>They sat on the second sofa opposite Will and Hannibal planted himself at Will’s side, before he poured tea for the rest of them.</p><p>“You could have visited us much earlier. We tried to call you at Hannibal’s insistance, but your number wasn’t working anymore.”</p><p>Will cleared his throat. He had smashed his sim card after Jack hadn’t stopped to try to contact him. </p><p>“That was my mistake. I left to England and didn’t think that I should have given you my new number.”</p><p>Mrs Lecter smiled.</p><p>“You’re here now, that is what is important. Hannibal is overjoyed.”</p><p>As if on cue, Hannibal scooted even closer to Will and hugged him tightly.</p><p>Mr Lecter shot a disapproving look at his nephew.</p><p>“Hannibal.” His voice was weak but yet authoritive. “What did I tell you?”</p><p>Hannibal reacted immediately, moving away from Will and sitting with his hands in his lap.</p><p>“Oh, it’s no bother...”, Will started, but Lecter shook his head. </p><p>“He has to learn to behave like a man. He can’t go around portray his emotions like this. He is the heir of a count.”</p><p>Not that the titel would matter much anymore, Will supposed, but the sheer fact that Hannibal’s uncle wouldn’t let the boy show any love or affection made him angry. Why would he tell him something so stupid? Hannibal had generally been a more quiet child and had some troubles with emtotions. If his uncle suppressed him like this...</p><p>But Will couldn’t allow himself to say anything. He needed to be on the Lecter’s good side in order to be able to see Hannibal. So he stayed quiet.</p><p>“Mr Graham, how long are you going to stay in Paris?”, Mrs Lecter asked.</p><p>“I intended to stay for the rest of the month.“</p><p>She hummed.</p><p>“You’re welcome to visit anytime. We have a guest bedroom too, if you would like to stay.”</p><p>Will smiled politely.</p><p>“Thank you very much.”</p><p>Hannibal beamed but his smile fell as his uncle glared at him once more.</p><p>Will didn’t like this at all and he had to keep his eyes from narrowing at the man.</p><p>They spent the afternoon talking about Hannibal’s school (he was an excellent student) and his leisure activities (drawing, swimming, riding and fencing lessons). Will really wondered how Hannibal managed his full calendar. He was a thirteen year old boy and not a robot. His uncle clearly wanted too much of the boy, that was evident. Hannibal had mentioned earlier that he had no friends. With this schedule he had no time for friends. </p><p>In the evening Will was invited for dinner and because Hannibal looked at him with puppy eyes he agreed.</p><p>Mrs Lecter stood and looked at Will.</p><p>“Would you mind giving me a hand with something in the kitchen, Mr Graham?”</p><p>Hannibal frowned as Will aquiesced and followed her out of the licing room and into the kitchen.</p><p>“He missed you a lot.”, she said as she took some wine glasses from a cupboard.</p><p>Will swallowed. He really wasn’t sure about what to say.</p><p>“I... I missed him too.”, he opted to tell the truth.</p><p>Mrs Lecter smiled.</p><p>“You took great care of him. He spoke very highly of you.”</p><p>“Mrs. Lecter...”</p><p>Now Will was embarrassed, but Mrs Lecter didn’t realise. She was looking at the glasses which she had placed on the counter top.</p><p>“My husband is a good man but he can be too strict. We never had children of our own. I’m from Japan, as you surely have realised. We met there and he took me with him but I miss home. I miss the culture, the food.” She smiled. “He made me take his name, but Hannibal, smart boy that he is, caught on that I’d rather be called Lady Murasaki. I’d prefer if you’d call me that as well, Mr Graham. Maybe just not in front of my husband.”</p><p>Now she looked up and Will met her gaze for a moment. She was a beautiful woman, he realised.</p><p>“Of course, Lady Murasaki.”</p><p>The woman smiled and he had to admit that he couldn’t guess how old she was. She might be thirty or fifty, it was impossible to tell.</p><p>“I worry about Hannibal.”, she admitted. </p><p>Will frowned but stayed silent, letting her talk.</p><p>“He is a very smart boy and manages to live up to my husband’s expectations, but he is lonely. He has no friends and spends his rare time off always by himself with his books.”</p><p>“I saw two young boys this afternoon when I met Hannibal...?”</p><p>Lady Murasaki smiled.</p><p>“Oh yes. James and William. They only met this summer and they have been together ever since. Hannibal seems to love them.”</p><p>“But they don’t live here he told me.”</p><p>She nodded.</p><p>“They go to a private school in England.” She sighed. “They’ll be gone again in a couple of weeks and won’t return until next summer. I really don’t want to separate Hannibal from them.”</p><p>Will’s heart started to beat faster. Was she implying...?</p><p>“I spoke to my husband. Well, I say spoke, I convinced him to let Hannibal go to England with them.”</p><p>“But Hannibal...”</p><p>“He doesn’t know yet, no, but he is enroled in the school already. He would have lived in a boarding house with people to look after him.”</p><p>Murasaki looked up at Will.</p><p>“But I don’t have to put him into a boarding house anymore, do I, Mr Graham?”</p><p>Will swallowed. This couldn’t be real. It just couldn’t.</p><p>“N...no, of course not.”, he stammered.</p><p>Murasaki smiled.</p><p>“That is wonderful news. I will of course make sure that you receive an appropriate compensation.”</p><p>Will blinked before he shook his head. </p><p>“No, please, it will be my pleasure.”</p><p>“This is non-negotiable, Mr Graham. I know my husband sent you a thank you for looking after Hannibal in the first place and I also know that you used it to start a new life. I never want you to worry about money. I want Hannibal to have at least that after the life he had. There is not much I can do but I can take the boy from my husband’s too harsh education and make sure he will never have to worry about money. You can still go to work, Mr Graham, but I want you to be able to live comfortably.”</p><p>Will’s bank balance was still better than it ad been in all the years he had worked for the FBI, despite the many trips he had taken and his income from his boat business not being the highest, but he knew that with Hannibal in his home, he would need to make sure proper food was on the table and all the school things he needed were paid for. It couldn’t hurt to have some support.</p><p>“I don’t believe in coincidences, Mr Graham. I think there was a higher reason that made you come to Paris in this moment. Thayt’s why I believe that Hannibal should go back with you.”</p><p>Will was speechless. How had this happened? This was too much of a coincidence, as Lady Murasaki had said. The universe was seldom that kind to him.</p><p>“So you agree to take him with you?”</p><p>Will cleared his throat. </p><p>“Yes of course. I will take the best care of him, I promise.”</p><p>Lady Murasaki smiled and put her hand on his arm.</p><p>“I do not doubt that, Mr Graham. Otherwise I would have never told you about this.”</p><p>The kitchen door opened and the servant woman from earlier entered. </p><p>“Would you like me to ask the cook to prepare food for four today?”</p><p>“Yes please, Hilda. Mr Graham, do you like Japanese food?”</p><p>“I do.”</p>
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